Preps / High School Sports

ThunderRidge swimmer Annie Ochitwa takes aim at shortest event

ThunderRidge star Annie Ochitwa, competing recently in the backstroke, has twice come close to winning the state title in the 50-yard freestyle. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

Annie Ochitwa has adopted an endearing term for swimming's lightning-bolt race, the 50-yard freestyle.

"People call it the splash and dash," the junior swimmer for ThunderRidge said. "It's the most exciting race. It's always been my favorite."

For Ochitwa and others competing this week at the state championships in girls swimming, the sport's version of track and field's 100-meter dash will be over in as quick as 24 seconds. In less time than it takes to watch a television commercial, a state champion will be crowned, perhaps only by the blink of an eye.

"It's one of those take-your-breath-away races," said Rock Canyon coach Nicole Vanderpoel.

The race might look like a maddening blur of twirling arms, churning legs and splashing water, but a closer examination will reveal a technical precision cultivated through hours of preparation.

"People think that it's just swimming as fast as you can, which it is," Ochitwa said. "But there are so many things that have to be exactly right. Something as small as slipping on a start can cost you a race."

As Ochitwa's coach at ThunderRidge, Jeanette Odiorne, puts it: "You have to have it all. It's only a 50. You don't have a lot of time to correct your mistakes."

Ochitwa is all too familiar with the razor-thin gap between victory and defeat in the 50. As a freshman in 2012, she finished one-tenth of a second behind Fossil Ridge's Rhianna Williams in the state finals. Last season, it was Williams edging Ochitwa by four-tenths of second.

The oh-so-close results gave way to plenty of what-if pondering.

"It's a matter of a start or a turn, maybe, that decided it," Ochitwa said.

The dive off the starting block is important in any race in swimming, but none more so than in the 50 free. Same goes for the halfway turn, where a slim lead can turn into an insurmountable deficit.

"You are constantly working on starts and turns," said Rock Canyon sophomore Abigail Kochevar, one of the state's fastest 50-yard freestyle swimmers this season. "If you don't have those right, you are going to add a lot of time. Those are what make you the fastest."

Annie Ochitwa dives off the block for her leg in the 200 freestyle relay during the Contin- ental League meet last weekend at Heritage High School. She is one of the favorites in the 50 free Saturday at the state meet in Thornton. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

In a race so closely contested, there is precious little time for thinking. Muscle memory takes a driver's seat. The best sprinters don't see the wall as much as they feel it coming.

"You do it so many times throughout four, five, six years that when you get up on the block, the autopilot goes on," Ochitwa said. "You just trust that you've practiced it enough that it's going to work out."

The race frays nerves. Its nail-biting nature can prove stressful, Kochevar said. Just try being a coach, who can do little more than become an engaged spectator once the horn sounds on swimming's most heart-pounding race.

"I am sort of an overenthusiastic coach, so I'll be shouting and waving my arms." Vanderpoel said. "It's like they are hydroplaning. It's really quite beautiful."

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